Lana looks to be doing better, more subdued by the generally gloomy atmosphere here but certainly not as broken. She has also changed into new clothing and the top she’s found is just a little too small, ensuring that more than one man has enjoyed looking at her generous assets. I have to work hard on not staring myself, reminding myself that I’m not a teenager anymore. No matter what my damn hormones are saying.
“How are you guys doing?” I gesture around before we return to watching the pair of dogs give rides to the kids. Parents watch on, some disinterestedly, some with deep concern but none make a move to stop it. I watch for a moment then I pull some chocolate from my stash, waving over some of the smaller ones and handing out the chocolate. It looks like they could do with the calories and after the initial rush, the children return to playing with the kids. In the meantime, the girls stay silent.
“We found a place to stay but it’s… umm… crowded,” Lana answers once we are alone again and Mikito nods firmly. “Richard’s taken the dogs to Collin’s, we’re hoping there’s more space there. Where are you staying?
“In my house,” I say.
“That’s not safe!” Lana hisses, turning to me. “I know you’ve been out in the woods yourself, but it really isn’t safe. You never know when a monster could spawn.”
“Oh,” realising my mistake, I quickly explain. “I bought it from the System so it is a Safe Zone. Still, won’t stop them from breaking in, but I’ll have enough warning especially since the doors and windows are fixed.”
“Mmmm….”
“Is that where you bathed?” Mikito speaks up from her seat.
“In a way. Randy, ummm, the former owner, he had rain barrels that were still filled up in the back,” I explain.
Mikito smiles and shares a look with Lana before they each take hold of one of my arms, gripping them firmly. “John…”
And that’s how I ended up with three new guests and a half-dozen mini-pony dogs. At least the dogs make a great alarm system.
Chapter 8
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
The world centers on my breathing and then nothing, a complete absence of thought fading in and out at times. I still have a long way to go, even with the purchased skill but as my alarm goes off, I realise I’ve been at it for half-an-hour now. Much better than what I could have done before the purchase.
It’s strange that such a simple thing helps me feel so much better, more balanced and calm. A part of me still wants to poke and prod at the System, about the why’s and wherefores, but it’s easy to push aside now, to focus on what is. Those questions can be answered in due time, but for now, there are things to do. Like breakfast.
“I love you,” I come down after a rain barrel bath, rifle clutched in one hand to grab the cup of offered coffee. “If that’s bacon, I’m marrying you.”
Lana laughs, shaking her head and pokes me with the spatula as she stands in the kitchen cooking up breakfast using my spare camping stove in a plain black borrowed shirt. The house looks cleaner, more put together with blood stains gone and furniture put aright. It must be my guests since after being forced to invite them home, I spent the rest of the night hidden away in my room going over the various upgrade options of my new residence. Spending so much time alone recently and being a natural introvert meant the rush of humanity drained all my social batteries.
“It’s the end of the world, not my taste,” Lana retorts and points to a seat. “Sit and eat.”
I comply happily, digging in before I have to ask, “Where did this come from?”
“Richard. He visited the Shop this morning while you were asleep and traded in our loot for some groceries. We gave most of what we got to the others, but we kept some essentials,” Lana answers me.
“Where are they?” I look around and note that both Mikito and Richard aren’t around.
“Hunting. Richard got an invite to join in and Mikito insisted on going. They took the dogs with them and joined up with a few others to work the area around Long Lake. Seems like you can put together parties in Town and share experience that way,” she explains. “I’m going to see what I can do to help at the schools. What’s your plans?”
“Nothing,” I smile slightly, shrugging. “I was thinking of taking it a bit easy, maybe spend a little time looking over the rest of the house and resting.”
Lana purses her lips, looking at me for a moment but does not comment further. After a moment she finishes the last of her coffee before she heads off to the room the girls shared to get dressed. Dressed for sure, since when she walks around the counter, I realise she’s not wearing pants. My jaw must have dropped because she grins back at me mischievously and explains in a purr that she doesn’t have anything to wear.
Ali just wolf-whistles and helpfully points out that she probably is coming on to me and proceeds to provide me graphic, graphic advise on what to do. I tune him out again, and when Lana does come back out wearing the same worn jeans as the day before, I almost wonder if what she said was the full truth. Either way, not the problem this moment. She waves goodbye to me, heading out and I sit back, staring around me.
The next half-hour has me puttering around the house, cleaning up the dishes and the stovetop, sorting out the remaining mess upstairs and my suite and then the workshop. When I find myself trying to turn on the water to water the plants that I realise I’m just trying to find work to do, something to get my mind off that gnawing pit of grief that is still bottled up in my body. I walk over to my bookcase, staring at my old friends and realise that’s not going to work either.
Fuck.
I close my eyes, leaning on the bookcase and realising that make-work isn’t going to cut it. I either have to deal with my emotions, all the things that I’ve been putting off or… Or I need to be out there, fighting. That’s when I don’t think. Out there, with the monsters, I can’t afford to do it.
I grim humorlessly, staring at my hand. Stupid. Such a stupid idea. But there might be more survivors who need help, more people trying to get back to town. Maybe I could do a little good too.
First step is to swing by the old hospital near the school and then take the road down to check out the scattered homes on this side of the river. There’s not a lot of people who live past the hospital, but with the increased number of monsters down this way, anyone who did live here might have been trapped. Anyway, it won’t take me longer than a half-hour. Other than a single, unwary crab-like monster that I kill, Ali and I find no sign of surviving humans and I don’t feel the need to go hunting here. The quest and the potential lives I might save are more important, at least for now.
After that, I leave Riverdale itself, the goal to make it to Porter Creek and the other suburbs to do a final check. There are more people out during the day, even the threat of on-going sudden death can’t beat pure boredom. In Rotary and Shipyards Park on the river, I note people working the fields over, breaking up the earth to begin planting. I’d barely glanced at Rotary Park on the way to Riverdale last night, figuring the churned earth just another apocalyptic change.
Once I leave downtown, it’s a faster ride to the suburbs. I don’t even bother slowing down to shoot at the monsters I see on my way there, but a part of me knows my haste is wasted. If there are survivors, they could have made their way in from these nearby suburbs on foot easily enough or someone like the circle would have escorted them in. Still, I’ll feel better making sure.
Surprisingly, I come across a few holdouts; families and individuals who refuse to leave their residences from sheer pride or stupidity. By the sounds of it, I’m not the only one who has tried to convince the holdouts to move, so I leave them to it, just making notes of where they are. I’ll leave it for someone else to deal with these idiots. Unfortunately, by the time I finish my circuit, other than a few simple kills, I’ve not found a single survivor to bring back and I’ve wasted half the day already.